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MISSIONARY 


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A  memorial  §>mrire 

held 

BY  THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

in  the ^ 

CHAPEL  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

LANCASTER,  PENNSYLVANIA 

TUESDAY,  MAY  10,  1927,  at  3  P.  M. 


COMMEMORATING 

THE  LONG  AND  FAITHFUL  SERVICE  OF 

HiUtam  E&uittt  Ifng 

MISSIONARY  TO  JAPAN  AND  CHINA 
DIED  AT  SEA,  MARCH  3,  1927 


SERMON  WAS  PREACHED  BY 
SECRETARY  ALLEN  R.  BARTHOLOMEW,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

PROFESSOR  GEORGE  WARREN  RICHARDS,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Presiding 
PRESIDENT  CHARLES  E.  CREITZ,  D.  D.,  Offering  Prayer 


REVEREND  WILLIAM  EDWIN  HOY,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


Ifyt  Irittg  Seaii  ffrt 

“He  died,  but  by  his  faith  he  is  speaking  to  us  still  ” 
Hebrews  11:4  (Moffat  Translation) 

JT  was  my  privilege  to  live  and  labor  in  the  closest  fellow¬ 
ship  with  our  dear  Dr.  Hoy  for  a  period  of  almost  forty 
years.  Our  souls  were  knit  with  a  friendship  that  will  never 
die.  This  man  of  God,  early  in  life,  was  chosen  by  the  Lord 
as  an  Apostle  to  the  Far  East,  and  he  continued  faithful  in 
His  service  until  death.  I  know  the  burdens  he  carried  on 
his  heart  for  the  Church  he  loved.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
self-effacing  missionaries  with  whom  I  ever  came  in  contact. 
His  heart  was  in  his  work,  and  the  size  of  it  can  he  seen  in 
his  great  achievements.  He  had  a  simple,  childlike  faith, 
unswerving,  enthusiastic,  and  in  the  strength  of  it  he  lived 
and  died  for  the  Master.  No  task  was  too  great  for  his  will¬ 
ing  soul  to  perform.  He  was  an  untiring  worker.  He  gladly 
spent  and  was  spent  for  others.  He  did  not  count  his  life 
dear  unto  himself.  His  writings  breathe  a  religious  depth 
and  fervor  that  is  seldom  found  in  current  literature.  Do 
you  wish  to  know  the  secret  of  it?  There  is  a  law  in  the 
natural  world  that  the  amount  of  light  and  heat  a  planet 
receives,  depends  on  its  nearness  to  the  sun.  The  nearer  it 
is  to  the  sun  the  more  light  and  warmth  it  receives.  This 
same  law  holds  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  finds  a  living 
proof  in  the  life  of  our  missionary  Hoy.  He  lived  near  to 


6 


HIS  MESSAGE  TO  THE  CHURCH 


Christ,  and  his  whole  career  was  aflame  with  the  light  of 
Jesus.  Of  a  truth  it  may  be  said  of  him,  “He  was  a  bright 
and  shining  light”  among  the  children  of  men. 

His  Message  to  the  Church 

It  is  my  wish  that  you  shall  hear  Dr.  Hoy,  and  not  me, 
speak  at  this  Memorial  Service.  He  has  a  message  for  us 
as  I  re-read  it  from  his  many  letters  which  are  a  rich  legacy 
to  the  Church.  Some  one  must  write  the  story  of  the  life  and 
labors  of  this  man  of  God  during  the  long  period  of  forty- 
two  years.  There  is  a  wealth  of  material  at  hand  for  this 
purpose.  I  know  of  no  missionary  who  has  made  a  richer 
contribution  to  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions.  There  is  a 
current  of  soul-agony  coursing  through  all  his  writings.  He 
had  an  intense  passion,  a  quenchless  thirst,  for  souls.  And 
this  made  itself  manifest  as  soon  as  he  came  in  personal  con¬ 
tact  with  the  heathen  world.  He  agonized  in  tears  with  God 
and  the  Church  for  help  to  lead  men  to  Christ.  You  cannot 
get  away  from  this  compelling  power.  The  key-note  to  it  all 
I  find  in  the  words:  “Let  us  continue  to  grow.  To  stand  still 
with  present  attainments  is  not  worthy  of  us.  We  can  do 
much  better  work  than  we  are  doing.” 

A  Pioneer  in  School  Work 

From  the  leadings  of  the  divine  providence,  we  know 
now  that  Dr.  Hoy  was  destined  to  be  the  pioneer  missionary 
of  our  Church  in  educational  work  in  the  Orient.  In  the 
fall  of  1885,  after  one  of  the  evening  sessions  of  Potomac 
Synod,  Brother  Hoy,  then  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for 


A  PIONEER  IN  SCHOOL  WORK 


7 


Japan,  sat  in  conversation  with  that  peerless  teacher,  Dr. 
Thomas  G.  Apple.  During  their  conversation,  Dr.  Apple 
said:  “Well,  Brother  Hoy,  I  suppose  after  you  get  out 
there  you  will  start  a  college  and  a  seminary?”  The  words 
fell  like  a  seed  upon  fruitful  soil.  “On  my  way  to  Japan,” 
Dr.  Hoy  wrote,  “the  question  of  mission  schools  was  ever  on 
my  mind.”  From  that  time  forward  he  determined  to  con¬ 
vert  the  idea  into  actuality.  However,  neither  of  these  two 
men  were  aware  that  their  hopes  and  purposes  were  in 
answer  to  prayer.  In  far-off  Sendai,  there  was  a  servant  of 
Christ,  the  Rev.  Masayoshi  Oshikawa,  who  carried  on  an 
independent  work  in  the  north  of  Japan.  It  became  plain 
to  his  mind  that  in  order  to  spread  the  Gospel  message,  he 
must  have  help,  both  in  men  and  means.  He  went  to  Tokyo, 
and  made  his  needs  known  to  the  United  Church  of  Christ. 
About  this  time  our  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  issued  an 
appeal  for  a  third  missionary.  Student  William  Edwin  Hoy 
applied,  and  he  was  sent  out  in  the  fall  of  1885.  By  a 
strange  providence,  upon  his  arrival  in  Japan,  he  was  met 
by  Mr.  Oshikawa  who  soon  got  his  consent  to  locate  at 
Sendai.  Imagine  the  two  strangers  on  that  long  journey  of 
250  miles!  Unlike  the  two  men  on  the  way  to  Emmaus;  they 
knew  that  Christ  was  by  their  side;  and  like  them,  the  fire  of 
a  holy  cause  burnt  in  their  hearts. 

The  Humble  Start 

What  led  these  men  of  faith  and  prayer  to  start  the 
Sendai  Training  School,  and  to  maintain  it  at  a  cost  of  much 
toil  and  self-sacrifice?  They  saw  the  need  of  pastors  and 
evangelists  to  enter  the  open  door  of  service.  They  felt  that 


8 


THE  HUMBLE  START 


the  specific  work  of  the  Church  was  to  cover  the  earth  with 
the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  They 
knew  that  the  fountain  head  of  the  Church’s  wisdom  and  life 
centers  in  the  Theological  Seminary.  As  the  little  streams 
that  start  from  the  mountain  top  form  the  rivers  which  water 
the  plains  below,  so  the  school  of  the  prophets  determines 
the  character  and  life  of  the  Church.  With  these  real  con¬ 
victions  at  hand,  to  inspire  confidence  in  their  new  work, 
they  began  in  a  humble  way  to  instruct  a  few  young  men 
of  piety  and  ability.  To  the  credit  of  brother  Hoy  let  it  be 
said,  that  he  fed  and  clad  six  poor  students  for  the  first  year 
at  his  own  expense.  He  met  them  in  an  old  dingy  house,  in 
a  solitary  part  of  the  city,  without  stove  in  the  winter  save 
the  little  heat  from  a  charcoal  fire. 

Now  the  task  was  no  longer  to  find  his  sphere  of  labor, 
or  to  gather  students,  but  to  acquaint  the  Church  with  the 
needs  of  the  work.  His  appeals  for  help  were  ever  on  a  high 
spiritual  plane.  “I  am  more  and  more  convinced  of  the  value 
of  prayerful  forethought  and  systematic  self-denial — and 
it  is  scriptural,  too.  For  God’s  sake  let  us  try  whether  it  will 
not  succeed.  It  will  take  time  and  labor.  And  for  every 
4 growth ’  the  seed  must  surely  be  sown  somewhere  by  some¬ 
body.  My  own  success  is,  of  course,  beyond  controversy. 
Others  can  and  ought  to  practice  the  same  on  a  small  scale, 
at  least;  and  many  persons  will  do  so,  if  we  work  the  matter 
earnestly  and  faithfully.” 

He  Challenges  the  Church 

He  had  a  burning  zeal  for  the  Tohoku  Gakuin,  now 
North  Japan  College.  One  of  the  proofs  of  it  is  still  stand- 


HE  CHALLENGES  THE  CHURCH 


9 


ing.  I  refer  to  the  John  Ault  Memorial  Dormitory,  paid 
for  at  a  great  sacrifice  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoy  with  a  small 
inheritance  received  from  her  parents.  And  all  this  time 
the  Church  at  home  was  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  his  appeals. 
Indeed  certain  members  of  the  Board  tried  to  persuade  him 
that  he  should  preach,  rather  than  teach,  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel.  To  this  he  replied:  “For  the  future  good  of  Japan 
and  the  progress  of  God’s  kingdom  I  had  rather  lay  down 
my  life  for  the  Gakuin  than  for  the  present  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  and  I  speak  and  make  my  vow  advisedly.  My 
resolution  is  made  simply  in  the  love  and  fear  of  Almighty 
God.  I  have  lost  time  and  energy  by  trying  in  vain  to  get 
help  from  home.  God  forgive  me  for  the  delay.  In  a  new 
and  more  intense  struggle  I  shall  find  my  monastery,  my 
absorption  in  my  Father’s  call  is  certain.  Hundreds  here 
are  witness  to  its  reality.  Some  one  must  do  the  work  and 
bear  the  burden.  I  am  ready,  Lord  Jesus,  I  am  ready.  I 
shall  neither  argue  nor  urge  any  longer.  I  go  to  work.” 
And  so  he  did,  with  a  breaking  heart,  and  the  result  was  his 
health  was  undermined  and  he  had  to  quit  work  for  a  sea¬ 
son.  Indeed  his  health  was  so  much  broken,  superinduced 
by  living  in  an  unfit  Japanese  house,  that  he  took  the  Board 
to  task  for  not  exercising  more  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
There  was  a  time,  in  the  early  years  of  our  work  in  Japan, 
when  some  people  in  the  Church,  and  I  infer  also  certain 
members  of  the  Board,  had  the  mistaken  idea  that  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  should  not  erect  foreign  houses,  but  live  in  Japan¬ 
ese  houses.  It  was  to  combat  this  false  notion  that  Dr.  Hoy 
made  this  statement:  “There  is  legislation  enough  to  support 
twenty  missionaries,  but  not  enough  action  to  support  five. 
Talk!  Talk!  School  boys’  talk!  But  to  act  well  requires  the 


10 


HIS  DEMANDS  WERE  REASONABLE 


Grace  of  God.”  Only  a  Secretary  of  a  Board,  with  a  zeal 
for  God  and  a  love  for  souls,  can  fully  appreciate  a  piercing 
arrow  like  that,  for  it  is  only  too  true,  and  we  might  just  as 
well  admit  it,  that  if  all  the  motions  and  resolutions  of  a 
Board  or  General  Synod  were  actions,  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
would  flood  the  world  and  all  men  could  see  the  salvation 
of  our  God. 


His  Demands  Were  Reasonable 

I  want  to  bear  testimony  to  one  outstanding  virtue  in 
the  demands  of  Dr.  Hoy  for  help,  and  that  is  he  was  never 
extravagant  in  his  plans.  They  were  always  extremely  simple 
and  economical.  Look  at  the  modest  home  he  occupied  at 
Sendai.  Recall  the  plain  old  school  buildings.  When  the 
time  came  for  the  erection  of  these  buildings  there  was  evi¬ 
dently  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Board  to  provide  on  a 
larger  scale  for  the  future  expansion  of  the  school.  This 
meant  delay  and  it  was  so  construed  by  Dr.  Hoy.  I  find 
that  he  took  the  Board  to  task  for  it.  He  wrote:  “Some  of 
you  are  planning  an  elaborate  building  for  the  future. 
Nonsense!  Now  is  the  time  for  us.  The  future  of  Japan 
belongs  to  the  native  Christians.  Our  Mission  is  entitled 
to  a  good  theological  seminary:  and  without  one,  we  should 
be  merely  an  assistant  mission  to  the  others.  We  have  a 
grand  theological  inheritance  and  individuals,  and  we  can 
make  it  count  for  much  in  Japan.  Surely  it  were  a  noble 
thing  for  us  to  start,  equip,  and  donate  a  theological  semin¬ 
ary  to  the  Japanese  Christians.  This  can  be  done  if  the 
Reformed  Church  will  give  us  now  $5000.  This  is  not  a 
large  sum  to  ask  for  such  a  work  from  so  large  a  Church  as 


OUR  FIRST  EXCHANGE  OF  LETTERS 


11 


ours.  May  not  we  realize  our  fondest  hopes?  Somehow  I 
feel  that  these  $5000  will  be  raiser!  soon.”  Thank  God  the 
Church  did  respond  as  is  evident  from  this  dulciana  strain 
in  a  later  letter:  “It  is  with  feelings  of  gladness  that  I  note 
the  increasing  interest  m  our  little  Training  School.  You 
know  I  began  it  in  faith,  God  has  been  with  it  and  is  now 
raising  up  helpers  at  home.  Blessed  be  His  name.  To 
labor  for  the  Japanese  in  the  name  of  Christ  is  a  source  of 
great  spiritual  joy.” 

Our  First  Exchange  of  Letters 

After  I  became  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  and  its  Secretary  in  June,  1887,  I  wrote  my  first 
letter  to  the  Japan  Mission,  Brother  Hoy  was  then  the  Sec¬ 
retary,  and  he  replied  on  August  24th  in  a  most  cordial 
spirit:  “Your  first  letter  came  yesterday.  I  read  it  to  the 
members  of  the  Mission.  We  all  felt  that  a  new  missionary 
brother  was  writing  out  of  the  fulness  of  his  heart,  and  that 
the  new  Secretary  has  a  soul  of  love  for  souls.  We  welcome 
you,  then,  as  our  new  official  correspondent,  and  more  than 
that,  as  a  personal  friend  and  correspondent  in  the  holy 
cause  of  Foreign  Missions.  We  pray  God’s  blessing  upon  you 
and  your  office.  May  the  Lord  give  unto  us  all  His  grace  to 
do  His  will  in  Japan.” 

In  this  same  letter  Dr.  Hoy  made  a  confidant  of  me,  by 
telling  me  of  the  sweet  secret  in  his  heart;  and  since  so  long 
a  time  has  now  elapsed,  and  he  himself  many  years  ago 
made  public  the  secret,  I  feel  at  liberty  to  tell  you  what  it 
was:  “As  you  well  know  I  came  to  Japan  as  a  single  mis¬ 
sionary.  This  arrangement,  however,  is  not  to  last  much 


12 


IN  FAVOR  OF  A  UNITED  CHURCH 


longer.  I  am  now  engaged  to  Miss  Ault  of  our  Mission,  and 
we  are  to  be  married  on  the  27th  of  December.”  After  those 
two  loving  hearts  were  united  as  one  at  the  altar  of  marriage, 
they  made  a  new  and  complete  surrender  of  their  lives  to 
God  in  service  for  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  and  they  were 
faithful  in  their  holy  calling  until  the  time  of  his  departure 
suddenly  came  at  sea  on  March  third,  during  his  last  voyage 
to  the  homeland.  ■ 

In  Favor  of  a  United  Church 

Dr.  Hoy  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  work  in  Japan 
was  in  favor  of  a  United  Church  of  Christ  for  the  Japanese 
Christians.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  “Christ  and  souls 
have  become  a  thousand  fold  more  to  me  than  the  Reformed 
Church,  and  as  a  foreign  missionary  I  could  serve  almost 
any  Board.”  It  was  his  conviction  that  the  Japanese  were 
coming  out  strongly  for  one  Church  in  Japan.  At  that  time 
a  prominent  elder  of  our  Church  wrote  to  him  urging  the 
organization  of  a  Reformed  Classis,  to  which  he  replied: 
“Impossible  just  now.  Pity  that  man  or  woman  or  Church 
whose  personal  sense  of  mine  would  withhold  an  offering 
to  Foreign  Missions  because  we  have  no  distinctively 
Reformed  Classis  in  Japan.  The  T  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life ’  is  more  than  this  dead  charity.”  There  can  be  no 
doubt  but  that  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  exemplified  in  the  work  of 
Foreign  Missions,  is  the  great  unifying  principle  among 
Christian  workers  in  all  lands.  It  certainly  has  been  the 
impelling  influence  to  unite  Christians  on  the  Mission  Fields 
into  the  one  Church  of  Christ.  Those  united  Churches  of 
Christ  in  Japan,  China  and  India,  are  a  standing  rebuke  to 


HE  HAD  A  PASSION  FOR  SOULS 


13 


the  divisive  forces  at  work  among  the  believers  in  America 
and  Europe.  If  the  work  of  Foreign  Missions  had  no  other 
results  to  show,  this  bringing  together  of  Christians  into  one 
Church  of  Christ  would  be  an  object  lesson  to  those  who  do 
not  believe  in  the  unity  of  the  spirit  and  in  the  bond  of  peace, 
but  prefer  to  live  apart  in  their  own  separate  camps. 

He  Had  a  Passion  for  Souls 

If  ever  there  was  a  foreign  missionary  with  an  evangel¬ 
istic  zeal  and  devotion,  that  man  was  our  Dr.  Hoy.  He  made 
frequent  trips  on  foot  with  his  associate  Rev.  K.  Yoshida. 
On  one  of  these  pedestrian  trips  he  writes:  “It  was  our  aim 
to  visit  people  in  their  homes  and  bring  the  Gospel  to  them 
in  a  most  direct  way.  With  Bibles  and  tracts  in  our  knap¬ 
sacks  and  ‘the  holy  hope  of  youth’  in  our  hearts,  we  began 
a  week’s  most  earnest  work.  The  first  evening  we  held  a 
lecture  meeting.  This  was  well  attended  and  a  great  deal  of 
interest  was  manifested.  The  next  day  we  visited  farmers 
and  talked  with  them  about  Jesus.  In  the  evening  a  man  who 
was  deeply  impressed  threw  open  his  large  house  and  invited 
the  neighbors  to  come  in.  We  had  a  pleasant  social  gather¬ 
ing  first,  and  afterwards  a  good  religious  meeting.  I  feel 
confident  much  good  was  done  then  and  there.  A  man  who 
was  to  receive  baptism  came  some  six  miles  to  see  us  and  to 
meet  us.  But  he  would  not  consent  to  being  baptized  there. 
We  must  come  to  the  village,  and  he  and  his  whole  house¬ 
hold  would  be  baptized  in  the  presence  of  all  the  villagers. 
So  early  the  next  morning  we  went  to  his  house.  At  three 
o’clock  that  morning  the  earnest  old  man  had  sent  out  a  youth 
on  horseback  to  call  the  people  of  the  neighboring  hamlets 


14 


HE  BLAZED  THE  PATH  OF  DUTY  FOR  US 


to  the  Christian  meeting  at  his  home.  The  simple  joy  and 
zeal  of  this  old  man  was,  I  think,  an  inspiration  to  Brother 
Yoshida  and  myself  in  our  sermons.  In  the  presence  of  this 
early  congregation  I  baptized  the  three  couples  of  that  house¬ 
hold — grandfather  and  wife,  son  and  wife,  and  grandson 
and  his  promised  wife.  It  was  an  impressive  scene,  and  we 
tried  to  press  home  upon  our  audience  the  beautiful  spirit 
of  it  all.  Thus  we  went  from  village  to  village,  from  house 
to  house,  bringing  the  word  of  God,  and  receiving  many 
more  invitations  to  preach  in  private  houses  than  we  could 
accept.”  He  concludes  his  letter  with  these  significant  words: 
“A  careful  estimate  seems  to  point  out  that  seven-eighths  of 
the  people  live  in  the  country,  in  villages  and  towns.  Oh! 
What  a  field  of  immortal  souls!  I  long  to  go  to  them  with 
the  simplicity  of  the  gospel.  Pray  for  them.” 

He  Blazed  the  Path  of  Duty  for  Us 

With  an  ever  deepening  sense  of  the  vastness  of  the  field 
in  Japan  and  the  ripening  of  the  harvest  this  dear  brother 
broke  out  in  this  severe  but  just  rebuke:  “For  myself  I  will 
not  work  many  years  longer  for  a  Church  that  refuses  to 
be  obedient  to  the  plainest  voice  of  God.  We  are  doing 
our  duty  to  the  utmost  and  we  have  a  God-given  right  to 
expect  both  Board  and  Church  to  stand  by  us.  We  have 
hardly  enough  courage  left  to  make  known  our  wants,  for  it 
is  in  vain  to  make  any  request.  There  is  a  terrible  sin  some¬ 
where,  or  else  there  is  no  God.  Don’t  you  know  that  this 
lethargy  of  the  Home  Church  hangs  like  a  millstone  around 
my  neck?  If  people  loved  God  or  really  believed  in  God 
and  wished  to  follow  Him,  they  could  not  neglect  that  larger 


SEEKING  HEALTH  IN  CHINA 


15 


and  darker  portion  of  the  human  race  which  is  in  the  dark¬ 
ness  of  idolatry.  I  care  not  for  doctrine;  I  would  not  hght 
two  seconds  for  a  catechism  or  creed,  but  I  believe  in  Christ 
as  a  personal  Redeemer,  and  I  own  the  right  of  the  heathen 
world  to  the  love  of  the  so-called  Church  of  God.  These  souls 
hang  upon  my  conscience,  and  the  sinful  neglect  of  our 
Home  Church  also  clouds  my  spirit.  Yours  at  the  throne  of 
grace  for  a  sick  Church  and  a  dead  world.  Oh,  God,  how 
can  Thy  people  remain  so  blind  and  so  listless  in  this  work 
of  bringing  a  sin-sick  world  to  Jesus!”  Brethren,  the  voice 
of  our  brother’s  blood  is  crying  unto  heaven,  and  will  not  be 
silenced.  “By  his  faith  he  is  speaking  to  us  still.”  I  find 
comfort  for  myself  in  the  thought,  that  in  spite  of  all  the 
handicaps  that  were  thrown  around  the  years  of  Dr.  Hoy  in 
Japan  the  results  since  prove  that  he  was  right  in  blazing  the 
path  of  duty  for  our  Church  and  the  Board,  and  how  faith 
wrought  with  his  works  and  by  works  his  faith  was  made 
perfect. 


Seeking  Health  in  China 

It  was  in  March  of  the  year  1898,  that  he  wrote  to 
Dr.  Callender,  then  Secretary  of  the  Board,  that  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Mission,  and  many  other  friends  both  missionary 
and  Japanese,  had  advised  that  he  should  rest  a  few  months 
and  seek  a  change,  in  order  to  find  relief  and  a  cure,  if 
possible,  from  the  increasingly  severe  attacks  of  asthma,  “So 
I  expect  to  go  to  China  in  a  few  days.  Seeking  rest  and  a 
change,  I  may  also  perhaps  obtain  new  light  on  how  and 
where  to  locate  a  Mission  in  China.” 

A  month  later  he  wrote  that  the  vacation  was  doing  him 


16 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  A  NEW  MISSION 


much  good.  The  asthma  had  not  troubled  him  since  he  left 
Japan.  What  he  saw  and  heard  in  Shanghai  was  of  great 
use  to  him  in  mental  and  spiritual  things.  He  began  to  write 
a  series  of  eighteen  letters  on  China  for  the  Church  papers, 
which  gave  the  Board  and  the  Church  an  insight  into  the  great 
spiritual  needs  of  the  people  of  that  vast  empire.  Then  and 
there  the  Lord  was  calling  him.  He  wrote  to  the  Secretary: 
“I  cannot  get  rid  of  the  idea  that  God  is  calling  me  here;  but 
I  do  not  wish  to  do  anything  in  undue  haste.  This  new  con¬ 
viction  is  not  a  mere  impulse;  nay,  it  is  rather  a  stern  sense 
of  duty.  China,  compared  with  Japan,  is  exceedingly 
repulsive  to  me  as  a  place  of  residence.  This  feeling,  how¬ 
ever,  makes  me  the  more  careful  to  watch  for  the  leadings  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  time  for  our  Church  to  take  hold  of  our 
proposed  Mission  in  China;  the  sooner,  the  better.” 

The  Beginning  of  a  New  Mission 

The  members  of  the  Board  had  wrestled  for  a  number 
of  years  with  the  question,  “Shall  we  establish  a  Mission  in 
China?”  It  is  a  long  and  painful  story  to  me,  and  I  shall 
not  weary  you  with  it.  However,  I  must  tell  you,  that  I  see 
the  guiding  hand  of  Providence  in  the  planting  of  our  China 
Mission.  Of  its  beginnings,  struggles  and  progress  I  shall 
not  speak,  except  to  say  that  Dr.  Hoy  chose  the  Province  of 
Hunan,  the  last  one  of  all  the  provinces  in  China  to  open  its 
doors  to  the  missionary  and  recently  the  first  one  that  closed 
it  to  the  missionaries.  There  are  three  words  that  tell  the 
story  of  our  China  Mission.  They  are  sacrifice ,  service  and 
success.  I  prize  it  as  a  great  honor  and  a  rare  privilege  that 
my  labors  as  Secretary  should  be  coeval  with  the  origin  of 


A  DISPLAY  OF  HEROISM 


17 


the  work  of  our  Church  in  China.  Before  he  settled  at 
Yochow  City  we  hear  Dr.  Hoy  saying:  “Let  us  not  be 
afraid  to  work  hard  for  these  people.  Jesus  died  and  was 
made  alive  forevermore  for  just  such  people,  as  well  as  for 
you  and  me;  but  they  may  never  learn  of  it  in  some  parts  of 
China  unless  you  and  I  are  willing  to  tell  them  what  Christ 
has  done  for  the  whole  world.”  With  an  unfaltering  courage 
he  wrote  during  the  time  of  the  Boxer  Troubles,  “Let  us  not 
close  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  in  China,  during  the  last  four 
months,  we  may  find  many  an  example  worthy  of  a  St.  Paul 
— Love  to  God  and  simple  obedience  to  His  will  and  com¬ 
mands  should  be  enough  for  us  in  going  forward  into  China.” 

A  Display  of  Heroism 

The  heroic  element  has  ever  been  dominant  in  the  mis¬ 
sionary  career  of  Dr.  Hoy.  Let  me  refer  to  one  instance 
only.  For  some  time  after  his  arrival  at  Yochow  he  was 
alone;  Mrs.  Hoy  and  the  children  did  not  join  him  until  a 
year  later.  He  lived  in  a  small  rented  house,  having  covered 
the  cracks  in  the  wall  with  paper  and  old  quilts.  Four  times 
in  three  months  he  was  molested  by  robbers.  The  officials 
sent  20  soldiers  to  guard  the  house,  but  he  wrote,  “These  slept 
and  we  were  never  safe.”  One  night  a  robber  dug  through 
the  back  wall,  went  up  to  the  boy’s  room  and  tried  to  get  in. 
The  boy  heard  him,  yelled  at  him,  and  came  running  into  the 
room  where  Dr.  Hoy  slept.  He  went  with  the  boy  to  see  how 
the  thief  had  made  his  way  into  the  house.  He  wrote:  “I 
found  a  Chinese  sword.  This  I  took  into  my  room  and 
placed  it  near  my  little  cot.  Just  before  falling  asleep  again, 
I  reached  out  and  touched  the  cold  steel.  Somehow  the  cold 


18 


SEPARATION  FROM  LOVED  ONES 


chills  crept  all  over  my  body  and  the  phrase,  Tn  perils  of 
robbers,’  flashed  through  my  mind.”  This  was  the  experience 
of  our  missionary  before  we  had  purchased  the  London 
Mission  Property.  Do  you  blame  him  for  modestly  asking, 
“Where  can  I  find  a  home  for  my  family  so  eagerly  waiting 
to  join  me  in  China?  The  little  house  occupied  by  Brother 
Cromer  and  me,  without  any  yard,  and  with  its  surroundings 
of  indescribable  filth  and  odors,  would  be  out  of  the  question. 
Must  my  family  remain  another  year  in  Japan?  That  I 
could  not  think  of  at  all.  What  was  to  be  done?”  My  dear 
friends,  we  do  not  know,  we  cannot  tell,  the  denials,  the 
hardships  and  the  deprivations  of  this  servant  of  the  Lord. 

Separation  from  Loved  Ones 

One  of  the  painful  experiences  in  the  work  of  Missions 
is  the  separation  of  the  workers  from  their  loved  ones  in  the 
homeland.  The  true  missionary,  as  did  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hoy, 
enters  the  foreign  field  for  life.  There  he  buries  himself  in 
his  work.  I  know  the  agonies  in  human  hearts  that  must  be 
lived  down  on  the  part  of  parents  and  children  in  their  life 
service  in  the  Orient.  To  the  honor  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hoy  be 
it  ever  said  that  this  trial  did  not  ruffle  them.  They  knew 
they  could  not  serve  their  Master  fully  and  not  remain  at 
their  post  of  duty.  That  Dr.  Hoy  was  devoted  to  his  work  in 
China,  loved  the  people  and  the  very  soil  of  Lakeside,  is 
voiced  in  his  own  words: 

“0  Lakeside!  thee  I  love;  From  earth  and  sky  above; 

Thy  charms  appear,  From  lake  and  mountain  there, 

From  trees  and  flowers  fair,  From  birds  in  purest  air, 

Joys  fill  the  year.” 


FINE  CHARACTER  TESTS 


19 


Dr.  Hoy  had  left  instructions  with  me,  that  if  he  died  at 
Yochow,  he  wanted  to  be  buried  there. 

My  own  observation  constrains  me  to  say  that  the  mis¬ 
sionaries,  for  a  high  and  holy  purpose  have  gone  forth  at  the 
greatest  sacrifices  in  order  to  sow  the  seed  of  truth  in  minds 
void  of  it,  and  to  kindle  flames  of  light  in  hearts  cold  with¬ 
out  it.  It  is  not  easy  to  live  in  a  distant  clime,  and  work 
among  strange  peoples  and  under  trying  circumstances.  But 
many  a  missionary  does  this  and  makes  the  best  of  it.  Dr. 
Hoy  did  it,  without  a  murmur  ever  escaping  from  his  lips. 
He  gave  his  life  for  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  and  he  was 
glad  to  do  it.  And  why  did  he  do  it?  Hear  him:  “When  I 
stand  before  our  students,  I  feel  in  the  depths  of  my  heart 
that  God  is  breathing  into  them  a  new  life,  and  that  He  will 
guide  that  life.  There  will  be  strength  given  to  that  life  for 
the  nation.  I  see  the  future  sweep  of  its  power  as  it  surges 
around  me.  No  one  can  destroy  for  me  the  vision  of  the 
New  China,  which  God  has  impressed  upon  myself  forever; 
for  He  has  called  this  empire  for  His  own  purpose  in  His 
Kingdom.”  And  again  let  Dr.  Hoy  speak:  “Surely  in  the 
light  of  history,  we  may  believe  that  China  has  been  spared 
and  is  now  being  prepared  for  a  special  spiritual  purpose 
by  Him,  whom  we  call  the  God  of  History  and  whom  we 
gladly  serve;  and  I  believe  that  he  who  serves  well  here  serves 
doubly,  because  from  China,  when  once  redeemed,  must  go 
forth  mighty  forces  that  will  affect  the  whole  human  race.” 

Fine  Character  Tests 

Dr.  Hoy  had  a  thankful  heart.  He  was  ever  apprecia¬ 
tive  of  the  kind  words  and  loving  deeds  of  his  friends.  “I 


20 


FINE  CHARACTER  TESTS 


must  express  my  appreciation  of  what  the  Board  and  other 
friends  have  done  for  my  wife  and  children  in  the  homeland. 
A  friend  who  is  a  friend  in  God  is  a  friend  indeed,  and  shows 
a  sympathy  that  uplifts  the  soul  in  the  hour  of  trouble.  Had 
it  not  been  your  promptness  in  remitting  to  my  family,  the 
education  of  our  children  would  have  been  much  more  diffi¬ 
cult  than  it  was.  In  our  hard,  rigid  economy  we  came  to  rely 
upon  your  promptness  and  you  never  failed  us.  Frequently 
also  your  advice  to  my  family  was  of  great  service  to  us. 
For  all  these  things,  and  more,  we  all  join  in  thanking  you 
and  our  God.” 

Dr.  Hoy  had  a  spirit  of  humility  that  one  feels  in  reading 
his  annual  personal  reports.  “As  I  stand  before  the  teachers 
and  students  my  limitations  in  language  and  knowledge,  in 
spiritual  power  and  insight,  and  in  touch  with  all  the  phases 
of  life  in  China,  bring  that  form  of  discouragement  which 
prompts  and  tempts  a  man  to  step  out  and  make  room  for  a 
better  preacher;  but  God  keeps  me  in  my  place  and  I  do  the 
best  I  can,  realizing  that  without  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  one 
can  do  nothing.  It  is  the  Holy  Spirit  that  quickeneth.  If 
one  preaches  in  his  own  strength  he  may  well  despair;  and 
there  is  danger  of  thinking  that  one’s  proud  strength  is  as  the 
might  of  the  Lord.  Thence  cometh  a  sound  of  words  worse 
than  sounding  brass  or  tinkling  cymbal.” 

Dr.  Hoy  was  also  conscious  of  his  own  ability  to  serve 
the  Lord  in  his  own  day  and  generation.  In  the  year  1911 
the  Board  had  granted  him  a  furlough,  but  he  did  not  accept. 
He  had  only  four  regular  furloughs  and  a  three  months’ 
vacation,  in  his  forty -two  years  of  service  as  a  missionary  of 
the  Church.  “As  I  look  upon  the  situation  and  feel  keenly 
the  demands  of  the  work  and  failure  from  home  to  meet  them 


FINE  CHARACTER  TESTS 


21 


adequately,  it  would  be  a  sin  for  me  to  leave  now — such  a  sin 
as  to  render  me  exceedingly  unhappy  at  home  and  interfere 
with  my  best  usefulness  there.  The  best  time  of  my  life  has 
come.  The  heavy  outside  work  that  was  so  necessary  during 
the  first  years  at  Yochow  City  and  later  at  Lakeside  has  been 
done.  I  am  much  freer  today  than  formerly  for  better  work 
in  school  and  in  Church,  and  I  long  to  keep  the  privilege  of 
further  unbroken  service  in  the  field.” 

Dr.  Hoy  threw  his  whole  soul  into  the  work.  He  was 
relentless  in  his  efforts  to  lift  up  the  Church  that  we  might 
see  the  dire  needs  of  a  dying  humanity  as  he  saw  them  and  to 
do  real  sacrificial  giving  for  the  sake  of  Him  who  gave  all 
He  had,  even  His  very  life  blood  for  the  redemption  of  the 
whole  world.  At  the  close  of  his  twenty-five  years  of  service 
he  wrote  in  his  report  to  the  Board:  “The  world  is  tired  of 
him  who  does  his  duty  as  a  mere  official,  and  is  hungry  for 
the  living  man.  It  wants  more  than  a  talker;  it  seeks  the 
prophet.  It  wants  more  than  a  wooden  sign  post — it  longs 
for  a  great  heart  who  knows  the  ways  of  God,  who  knows 
the  Lord  in  the  travail  of  His  own  soul,  and  who  glories  in 
the  Cross.  If  Christ  be  not  formed  in  me,  then  will  my 
preaching  and  my  teaching  be  in  vain.  If  the  holy  splendors 
of  grace  shine  not  through  my  life,  I  cannot  lead  men  to  seek 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  if  my  look,  and  my  act, 
and  my  word,  come  not  forth  from  love  as  a  stream  as  clear 
as  crystal,  I  cannot  point  with  might  in  the  Spirit  to  the  love 
of  God  the  Father;  and  if  my  relations  with  men  are  not 
tempered  in  the  joy  and  peace  of  God,  all  my  testimony  will 
not  bring  men  together  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  ideal  today  is  thrust  upon  me  with  the  weight  of  years, 
and  woe  is  me,  if  I  fail  to  strive  to  attain  what  I  know  is  only 


22 


HIS  LAST  MESSAGE  TO  THE  CHURCH 


too  true  in  missionary  life  in  Japan  and  China.” 

His  Last  Message  to  the  Church 

This  is  not  the  time  and  place  for  me  to  speak  of  the 
present  critical  situation  in  China.  Our  own  Mission  has 
been  hard  hit,  the  hardest  of  any  Church.  Of  all  the  Prov¬ 
inces  in  China,  Hunan  has  made  the  cleanest  sweep  of  the 
missionaries — its  best  and  truest  friends.  However,  these 
servants  of  Christ  were  not  driven  out  by  the  local  people, 
but  by  imported  agitators.  What  the  future  has  in  store  for 
our  Church  in  China  no  one  can  tell.  In  one  of  his  last  letters 
to  me,  Dr.  Hoy  has  left  a  testimony  that  we  do  well  to  heed 
at  a  time  when  there  is  so  much  distress  in  China,  as  well  as 
disheartenment  among  some  of  our  own  Church  members. 
He  wrote:  “Whatever  may  come  to  us,  please  remember  that 
Mrs.  Hoy  and  I  do  not  regret  our  having  served  so  long  in  this 
land.  Service  has  been  joy.  One  year  and  a  half  ago  we 
returned  to  a  Changed  and  Rapidly  Changing  China.  We 
may  be  too  old  to  readjust  ourselves  to  the  new  environment; 
but  surely  this  inability  must  not  embitter  us.  Both  God  and 
man  have  been  gracious  to  us  all  our  years  in  this  land  of  the 
Tar  East.’  In  all  our  efforts  we  have  tried  to  hold  up  Christ 
and  Him  crucified;  and  we  still  believe  in  Him  who  was  sent 
into  the  world  to  save  those  who  will  receive  Him.  Should 
we  be  driven  out  tomorrow,  our  labor  in  the  Lord  has  not 
been  in  vain.  In  these  discouraging  days  there  are  many  in 
China  who  by  letter  and  by  personal  calls  testify  to  what  the 
Christ  preached  or  taught  means.  For  all  this  we  take  heart 
and  rejoice  for  the  service  the  Lord  has  owned.  Let  not  the 
Board  and  the  Church  become  discouraged.  God’s  right  arm 


HE  WAS  A  MODERN  PAUL 


23 


of  salvation  has  not  been  shortened.  The  Church  still  lives.” 

He  Was  a  Modern  Paul 

Dear  Brethren :  Our  beloved  friend  and  co-worker  has 
come  to  the  end  of  his  life’s  journey.  The  time  of  his  depart¬ 
ure,  or  embarkation ,  was  at  hand.  Our  Church  has  lost  much 
by  his  untimely  death.  He  was  true  to  the  call  of  God,  loyal 
to  the  service  of  humanity,  and  faithful  unto  death.  And 
here  I  find  the  crowning  glory  of  his  life.  I  regard  Dr.  Hoy 
as  a  Modern  Paul.  The  portrayal  of  his  missionary  expe¬ 
riences  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles. 
He  did  not  live  for  self,  but  for  service.  He  left  a  will,  but 
no  estate.  He  gave  away  all  he  had,  but  he  kept  his  soul. 
When  I  think  of  his  work  in  time,  his  influence  on  the  world, 
and  his  reward  in  heaven,  I  am  led  to  confess,  uThere  is  one 
thing  in  the  world  better  than  making  a  living,  and  that  is 
making  a  life.”  This  is  the  real  motive  in  the  lives  of  all  true 
Christians.  Will  you  not  join  me  in  the  wish: 

“I  ask  no  heaven,  till  earth  be  Thine, 

No  glory-crown  while  work  of  mine  remaineth  here. 

When  earth  shall  shine  among  the  stars, 

Her  sins  wiped  out,  her  captives  free — Her  voice  a  music 
unto  Thee, 

For  crown,  more  work  give  Thou  to  Me,  Lord  here  am  I.” 

Amen. 


BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  OF  THE  REFORMED  CHURCH 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

SCHAFF  BUILDING 

1505  RACE  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


